Travelling on Greater Manchester’s buses and trams is set to get even cheaper this March with a new annual ticket allowing customers unlimited travel for the equivalent of between £2.75 and £4.10 a day
Building on the annual ticket for Bee Network buses, the new ticket will cover both bus and tram journeys. Passengers will also be able to spread the payments monthly or annually – at no extra cost – with the support of a Credit Union loan to unlock further savings.
Customers will save 15% when compared to buying 13 28-day tickets, with the overall price depending on the numbers of Metrolink zones chosen, ranging from one to all four zones
Keeping fares low is a key part of the Bee Network and has only been made possible by Greater Manchester becoming the first area to bring buses back under local control in 40 years.
Residents across Greater Manchester have played a key role in the historic delivery of bus franchising, with funding from the Mayoral precept having been used to implement franchising and to now maintain and improve the bus network.
To support the ongoing improvement of better bus services for all residents and businesses across the city-region, the planned precept increase of £12 has been reduced to £11 after franchising was delivered on time and within budget.
As well as the existing Bee Bus annual ticket, the multi-modal annual ticket will also sit alongside the existing Metrolink annual travelcard which provides unlimited travel for tram passengers through their chosen zones, as well as the new £2 ‘hopper’ fare that allows passengers to use multiple buses within one hour and the reduced 7 and 28-day and annual tickets.
It will be available from 23rd March, the same day as the launch of a new integrated contactless payment system allowing passengers to tap in and tap out on Bee Network buses and trams, while also providing clear daily and weekly caps meaning customers will never pay more than the daily or weekly limit regardless of how many journeys they make.
The move will see a maximum daily cap of £9.50 and weekly cap of £41 for unlimited bus and tram travel anywhere in Greater Manchester, with off peak options costing even less***.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said:
“We’re making huge strides towards making public transport cheaper, simpler to understand and more convenient than ever before. We have delivered bus franchising on time and on budget, and with buses across the region now under our control we’re fast approaching our big moment in March when we bring in tap in, tap out payments and capped daily fares across bus and tram.
“Everyone in Greater Manchester has a stake in it – you have helped to fund it. As more people have got on board our buses we have been able to deliver a lower than planned precept, which we will use to continually fund further improvements to the Bee Network.
